1985
Cruz saved Eden from the clutches of the Carnation Killer. They became engaged, but their wedding at the Capwell Hotel was interrupted by a fire. Now a cop, Cruz investigated the 1979 murder of Channing Capwell Jr. When Eden's mother, Sophia Capwell, turned out to be the killer, Cruz was forced to arrest the woman. Hurt and angry, Eden broke up with Cruz. The two feuded for months until C.C. intervened and got them back together. Cruz and Eden again made wedding plans. Later, with C.C. in a coma, Eden fell victim to Gina's plot to disconnect C.C.'s life-support system and frame Eden for the crime. Fortunately, C.C. didn't die. Still, Eden believed she was responsible for the murder attempt and couldn't face Cruz anymore. She reluctantly married Kirk Cranston, an opportunistic schemer. Cruz was unable to stop her.

1986
Upon learning that Eden was pregnant with Kirk's child, Cruz felt very defeated. In an attempt to move on with his life, he married Santana Andrade to help her get custody of her son Brandon. During this time, Kirk tried to kill Eden, causing her to miscarry. Cruz and Eden then pretended to have an affair to get proof that Kirk was guilty. When Kirk threw Eden in a shark tank, it was Cruz who rescued her. Kirk was ultimately arrested, leaving Eden a free woman. Still, Cruz remained married to Santana. That changed when Santana accidentally struck Eden with a car, having been drugged by Gina. Cruz and Santana's marriage ended, and Cruz and Eden reunited. The two were happy together until Cruz's ex-girlfriend, Victoria Lane, returned to Santa Barbara. Cruz and Tori shared a secret regarding the death of Katie Timmons, Keith's sister. When the two were shipwrecked in a storm, they holed up in a deserted lighthouse. Feverish and delirious, Cruz made love to Tori because he thought she was Eden. When Eden found out, she and Cruz broke up. To make matters worse, Tori turned out to be pregnant.

1987
Cruz and Eden (pictured) were reunited by their friend Pearl while the three of them were traveling on the Orient Express. Soon after, Cruz and Eden were distraught when Eden lost their baby, a baby they didn't even know she was carrying. Following this tragedy, they decided to get married in Utah. When Eden went there ahead of Cruz, Elena Nikolas (a.k.a. Eleanor Norris) threw her over a mountain and faked Eden's death. Needless to say, Cruz was devastated. He mourned Eden's "death" and opened up a detective agency called The Last Resort. Elena got herself hired at the Last Resort. She also tried to seduce Cruz, but he rejected her. Then, Eden returned to Santa Barbara alive but paralyzed and having been held captive by a mountain man named Cain. Elena was killed shortly afterwards. Cruz was put on trial for the murder. Determined to prove his innocence, he escaped during Kelly and Jeffrey Conrad's wedding. He and Eden used a sea grotto as a hiding place while they investigated Elena's murder. In the end, Cruz was cleared of the crime. Meanwhile, Eden regained the use of her legs.

1988
Following an adventure concerning an assassin called "The Fox," Cruz and Eden were finally ready to get married. They tied the knot in a romantic ceremony in Pepple Creek, the place where Eden had been conceived. Soon after, Cruz learned that he was the father of Tori's son Chip. Then, while working on a case, Cruz was knocked unconscious and set adrift in a rowboat. He woke up with amnesia on an island owned by the crazy Dr. Willoughby. Found by Eden, Cruz regained his memory and outwitted Willoughby in a "game" in which Willoughby intended to hunt Cruz down and kill him. Back in Santa Barbara, Cruz and Eden moved into a new beach house. There, Eden was brutally raped by a man that would become known as the "video rapist." When Eden turned out to be pregnant, Cruz feared that the rapist was the baby's father.

1989
Eden gave birth to a girl named Adriana. Cruz was relieved when tests results proved that Adriana was his daughter. The baby was soon kidnapped by Eden's rapist, Dr. Zack Kelton. Zack made a dying declaration that Adriana was dead, but Cruz refused to believe this. He accepted the help of a psychic named Sandra Mills to find his daughter. Things got complicated when Sandra became obsessed with Cruz. Eventually, Cruz and Eden found Adriana living in Paris with his sister-in-law Hollis, who had bought the baby on the black market. A month later, Cruz had a reunion with his father Rafael in Acapulco. Cruz and Eden's marriage was going well until Robert Barr arrived in town. Robert was Eden's former lover and tried to win her back. When Eden was torn between the two men, Cruz was too proud to stick around and moved out of the house.

1990
Cruz and Eden magically reunited in Pepple Creek after the Robert Barr debacle. Cruz then investigated drug deals in Santa Barbara. Eden was knocked out by Marcos, a drug dealer, and wound up in a coma. As soon as she woke up, Cruz sent her to Paris for her own safety. During her absence, Cruz learned that the drug lord was none other than Kirk Cranston. Later, Cruz was given a talisman that got him into a lot of trouble. He was kidnapped by the Pasha of Kareef, who was interested in the powers of the talisman and wanted Cruz to produce a child with one of the Pasha's wives. Eden went to Kareef and was eventually reunited with Cruz. Back in Santa Barbara, when Robert's twin brother Quinn got killed, Eden wrongly believed she did the deed. On her way to confess to Quinn's murder, she got into a car accident and went into another coma. Fortunately, Cruz's love brought her back on Christmas Eve.

1991
Eden began having multiple personalities, including a jewel thief named Lisa. She and Andre Wolfe pulled off some robberies before finally being caught. When Eden/Lisa ran away, Cruz went after her but was unable to keep her from falling over a high ocean cliff. Eden was thought to be dead, but soon returned disguised as a painter named Suzanne Collier. Sadly, Cruz couldn't see through the disguise. When Eden/Suzanne disappeared after shooting her mother Sophia, Cruz tried to find her in North Carolina. Instead, he met the real Suzanne Collier, an old friend of Eden's, and realized that Eden was alive after all. Suzanne moved to Santa Barbara to help Cruz. The two became involved. 

1992
Unable to compete with the memory of Eden, Suzanne broke up with Cruz. When Cruz received divorce papers from Eden, urging him to move on with his life, he painfully signed them. He became involved with Eden's sister, Kelly. Furthermore, he was reunited with his high school buddies Reese and Jodie Walker at their class reunion. Cruz was the first person to realize that Reese and Jodie's grown daughter, B.J., had been sexually molested by Frank Goodman. Frank then locked Cruz and Jodie in a slaughterhouse, where Jodie admitted to Cruz that B.J. was his daughter. Frank was killed. A short while later, Cruz uncovered evidence suggesting B.J. had killed her molester. Trying to take the blame for his daughter, Cruz abandoned Kelly and Santa Barbara after leaving a confession note. He wasn't heard from again.